CONCIERGE OR INFORMATION DESK - TEACHING SOCIAL-STRATIFICATION THROUGH THE MALLING OF AMERICA

This paper presents a sociological synthesis of critical pedagogical a nd andragogical teaching techniques for a multidisciplinary classroom. Field research was conducted by undergraduate students at a popular s ocial setting: local urban and suburban malls. The objective of the as signment was to explore critically the basic sociological concepts of stratification along such dimensions as race, class, gender, ethnicity , and nationality. By extending classroom heuristics into the social w orld of ''everyday life,'' this approach enables students to explore a familiar social place-the postindustrial shrine to American consumpti on culture-through the critical lens of the sociological imagination. The application of sociological principles learned in the classroom to the larger community or ''real world'' helps to enhance the relevance of sociology as a scientific discipline to students when they return to the traditional academic setting. Although the paper is based on ex periences from a multidisciplinary class (N=63) that was not trained i n qualitative research techniques, the assignment can be utilized effe ctively in more advanced undergraduate and graduate courses, including research methods classes.